The Secret of NIMH (1982)

We had to watch this movie in like middle school or something and its pretty good. Its a bit dark and a bit forgettable, but otherwise it doesn't do anything wrong and is very entertaining. I'd recommend watching.

Out of all the animated movies said to challenge children, "The Secret of NIMH" is normally the first mentioned. And while I will say the movie can be pretty dark, I think it's reliance on magic hurts it's challenge ability. The idea of human testing turning street rats into intelligent beings is a great concept, but the actual conflict of the movie is focused more on Ms. Brisby. If the story was more about the rats of NIMH traveling to Thorn Valley, and the dangers they faced along the way, it would've left a bigger impact on me. The animation is great, the characters are cool, the concept is cool, but the plot's ultimately about moving a house. I'm sure there are plenty of people that absolutely adore this movie, and I can see why. But, I just found it very good, with a couple of disconnects.

I'm not going to bother with what CULT as an acronym means. As some background, this film was pitched shortly after Don Bluth left Disney in 1979 over production values in The Fox and The Hound. As a first film for an animation studio, the Disney-esque art style and story really blew me away when I saw it on TV. The animation has some Disney mojo mixed in with subtle originality, and quite a few times I went "Whoa" at how well done the effects were, such as colored light flashes. The characters, while being worth our eyes, are actually not highly memorable, and the cast to a modern person would seem incredibly obscure (despite how their performances are amazing). The story presents a lot of darkness and mystery, with anxiety or intrigue in an absolute majority of the frames. 15 years after having left our childhood memories with Tom and Jerry, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer makes the wise decision to distribute this film (but oh God no they made a sequel), and not long after it lost popularity, CULT grew. See it should you consider it, because for the most part, it deserves CULT.

Nicodemus mourns the lost the Jonathan in a difficult task against NIMH (later revealed to be National Institute of Mental Health). Jonathan's widow Mrs. Brisby goes to Mr. Ages for help. Her youngest Timothy is ill and can't get up for 3 weeks. However moving day is coming. On the way back home, he runs into the bumbling Crow Jeremy (Dom DeLuise) which attracts the farmer's cat Dragon. The farmer is plowing the field and Mrs. Brisby needs help. Auntie Shrew directs her to the Great Owl who in turn sends her to find Nicodemus.This has the style of the old Disney hand drawn animation. The characters are truly compelling. Mrs. Brisby is a great heroine better than many of the Disney princesses. Dom DeLuise is terrific comic relief. The movie represents the marriage of old style animation, compelling characters and a wonderful story.